Adopted Ch 1
by JKincorporated
Summary: Suzume is a homeless 12 year old in the Sand Village. the Sand Siblings found her on the streets and end up adopting her. but Gaara wonders why the kids are calling her a freak and who this little girl really is. follow the new family in general teenagers' issues and a main plot that brings trouble and pain into their lives


Gaara and his siblings were back from a mission that Baki had ordered. They were strolling around the village to the Kazekage mansion, taking their time to catch up with each other. It had been their first mission together ever since Gaara had joined the regular troops and Temari and Kankuro were hoping they'd get some bonding time with him. The sand under their feet shifted as they took a step and the temperature of the village was as normal, beating down and sweltering. The desert wind blew by and rustled their clothes for a bit until it grew bored and traveled elsewhere. Somewhere in the distance they could hear children's laughter and the muffled kicking of a ball. Gaara's siblings were blabbering behind him as they walked.

"Kankuro, it's your turn to cook dinner. Stop trying to get out of it," Temari said irritated.

"But I've got work, jan," Kankuro said with a lazy wave of his hand. "Puppets don't make themselves."

"You know I have paperwork to finish and Gaara destroys the food whenever he tries to cook, no offense," Temari said hurriedly.

"None taken," Gaara replied, fully aware of his lack in cooking skills.

Kankuro thought it over. "Fine, but I'm not doing the laundry tomorrow."

Temari punched him. "You can't do that. It was your turn to cook in the first place."

She was practically growling and a black aura had surrounded her. Knowing the situation was going to get out of hand, Gaara picked up his pace and walked away from his siblings. He turned a corner and mentally sighed, a bit relieved to leave his siblings at it. He was walking toward the old park he once spent his time at as a child. His expression didn't change as he surveyed the playground. The swing was still there; but someone had taken his place on it.

A girl around the age of 11 sat swinging half-heartedly on the seat of the swing. She was alone and staring as the kids in front of her played a sport. Seeing her reminded him of how he was when he was six. Alone and longing to be accepted. When he looked carefully, he saw that the girl was wearing clothes that were ragged and worn. Patches on patches were stitched on but it still had a rip through one of the pants legs. As he watched, the ball from the other children's game rolled over to the girl. She paused and stood. She picked it up and walked over to them. Gaara was anticipating screams of terror and the sound of running footsteps, but to his relief that didn't happen. The kids didn't seem to be scared of the girl and the stood their ground.

"Gaara, what are you doing?" his siblings had joined him at the park.

He pointed at the scene in front of him. They followed his finger and watched as well. The girl lifted the ball to hand it back to them. A boy came up to her. And knocked the ball out of her hands. Gaara's eyes widened as the kids surrounded the girl and started to laugh. The boy from before pushed the girl down to her knees and the others joined in to start punching and kicking her.

"Those brats!" Temari yelled.

Gaara's sand rushed over to the group and exploded in the middle, making the kids step back in surprise.

"What do you kids think you're doing?!" Kankuro said angrily.

The Sand Siblings started to walk toward the group. Being caught by full-fledged shinobi made the kids anxious and fearful. Some ran away as they approached and some were frozen on the spot. Kankuro stared darkly at them and Temari put her hand on her hips in a threatening way. But Gaara was focused on the girl in the middle. She wasn't crying and she met Gaara's eyes with defiance. Now that she was closer, Gaara saw that she was skinny as a twig. Her bones were sticking out in a way that couldn't be healthy and her lips were parched and white. Before he could react, the girl stood and ran out of the group of kids.

"Wait!" Kankuro yelled after her.

"Let's go," Gaara said running to catch up. His siblings glanced at each other but followed.

Gaara's footsteps were pattering on the ground as he followed the little girl. He didn't want to scare her by using his sand but as she sped up he was considering using it. He saw her glance behind and see him on her tail. She turned a corner and into an alley. From Gaara's knowledge he knew that the alley led to a dead end and decided to slow down to catch his breath. He heard the girl's footsteps and the clanging of a trashcan as it fell from her collision. He started to walk down the alleyway after her. He felt his siblings' presence behind him as they caught up. Gaara kept walking down the alley and saw the girl standing hopelessly at the end. He stopped where he was to make sure he didn't frighten her. His siblings followed his lead.

The girl whipped around and pressed her back to the wall behind her. She slid down and fell to the ground. Gaara could see her distress.

"What do you want?!" she shouted. "Are you going to beat me up too?"

"No. We're not going to do that," Temari said quickly.

The girl didn't seem convinced.

"Why did those kids attack you?" Kankuro asked.

The girl snorted. "I've been an outcast most of my life because my parents died when I was a baby. The orphanage didn't want me either so I'm just a simple beggar now. Those kids just think their better than me and that I'm lower than an animal. It doesn't matter to me though. What about you?" she glared at them. "Do you think you're better than me?"

"No," Gaara said. He took a step forward and the girl met his gaze. "It does matter to you."

"What do you mean?" the girl said cautiously.

"You made an attempt to make them accept you when you handed the ball back to them. If it didn't matter to you that they thought that way about you, you wouldn't have made the effort."

The girl didn't answer.

Gaara took another step forward. "Do you have a name?"

The girl's expression turned uncertain but she answered. "I'm told that my surname is Himura and my first name is Suzume."

Temari smiled at her. "How would you like to be part of our family, Suzume?"

Suzume's head popped up and her hard expression had disappeared and replaced by a look of hope.

"Wait, what?" Kankuro said. But Temari elbowed him in the gut. "Oh, right. How about it kid?"

"You're really going to adopt me?" Suzume asked desperately. "You're not kidding are you?"

"Nope!" Temari said with a closed eyes smile.

Gaara stepped closer to Suzume and offered her a hand. She stared at it and then back at Gaara. She lifted her hand and grabbed his. He pulled her up and then let go of her hand. He started back down the alleyway, while Temari grabbed Suzume's wrist and pulled her along.

"I've always wanted a little sister," she pronounced.

Kankuro looked after the two and then sighed. He turned to Gaara. "Are you sure about this?"

"Now that it's done we can't take back our word, can we?" Gaara said.

"Well, I guess she can help out with the chores now, jan," Kankuro said playfully.


End file.
